"For D'Arcy, like O'Driscoll and several other Ireland players, the game could be defining and could mark a bleak or inspirational moment in their careers."
That was one of the key lines from an Irish Times article from September 25th, 2007, five days before Ireland's 2007 Rugby World Cup came to an ignominious end at the hands of Argentina in the final pool game.
That tournament has been mentioned sporadically in the build up to this year's tournament but as Off The Ball guest presenter Brian O'Driscoll said, there is no comparison between '07 and 2015.
The only comparison - at a stretch - is the fact that Argentina provide the opposition. This time the Pumas stand between Ireland and a first ever World Cup semi-final, while in '07 the team were trying to save their tournament from the abyss.
As the aforementioned article reminded us, Ireland needed to pull four tries out of the hat at the Parc des Princes in Paris and it is interesting to see what the build-up to the game was like with the power of hindsight.
A few days before the game, Irish Times' rugby correspondent Gerry Thornley touched on the reasons why Argentina were geared up to thwart Ireland, writing, "... primarily it's because of the lack of respect they feel Ireland have afforded them in the glut of eight meetings in the last eight years".
And there was an attempt at optimism two days before the match by the BBC's Alastair Eykyn, whose reasons included the Munster contingent who know how to "pull rabbits out of hats", the lack of belief reducing expectations ahead of the match and that out-half Ronan O'Gara "just can’t play so badly four matches in succession".
Meanwhile, The Telegraph's Brendan Gallagher threw up plenty of questions that did not bode well for Ireland as they built for that Argentina game, casting doubt over physique, the fact that he could "confirm that the squad are not happy" with their World Cup base and peaking the previous November before going into decline.
While he did expect an "exceptional performance" against the Pumas, he did rightly predict that it was an "Irish dream that looks likely to be killed off" as the match ultimately finished 30-15 to Argentina thus sending Ireland home with nine points from four pool games.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
